Sociology Essays - Birth Order Theory

Birth Order Theory

The birth order theory was first coined by Alfred Adler. This is a theory that often refers to the order of birth in which one was born in. He was the first to say that “not only the parents but also the siblings influence the child’s behavior characteristics” (Leman, 2000).

It is often believed that the order in which a child is born plays a significant role in how the child will be able to have life and all of the problems that life will bring such as relationships, work ethic, and just life in general. The birth order theory consists of 4 birth order theory personalities: first born, second born, the only child and youngest all of which will have a list of traits, a list of strengths and a list of weaknesses that each child should possess.

The birth order personality of an individual relates to both their working style, which is how a person works and their relationship style. For many people that means working along different birth order lines. The first born is generally the leader of the family, and tends to be the most responsible of the siblings. These people like to be in charges of other people and love to be in control. They feel uncomfortable with surprises or being out of familiar surroundings.

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Their ability to focus on a goal and their propensity to organize others means they can achieve whatever they put their minds to. They are also perfectionist. Approval of authority is important for this group. Second born’s the compromisers, and flexible. They have to be motivated by a cause and will enjoy working with people. They tend to be involved in projects that will give them a sense of belonging.

The second born child will treasure friendships they are generally always the one that will get along with everyone and be the peacekeeper. Hey generally will always put others first. The only child is the one that expects nothing less than the best. They will always be the one and only to raise the bar for everyone else to reach this will generally push those around them to do their best. One of their best strengths is the fact that they are able to work on their own for long periods of time.

They make great project finishers and strategic thinkers but they can be secretive and don’t deal well with conflict. Ciadvertising.org says that “Recognition is important to this group”. The youngest are the initiators; they have great ideas and like to challenge people. They are very creative and are full of fun. They like to do things on the spur of the moment. They also like to be the center of attention.

As for my family there are 3 of us so this is perfect to analysis us. I am the oldest, and then there is my brother Don Jr., and my sister Jessica. I am definitely a leader and I love being in control. I remember bossing my brother around, but there always seemed to be some tension between us there was definitely sibling rivalry. I never liked being surprised and to this day if I suspect a surprise I will try to find out what it is and do my best to mess it up.

For my brother he was rebellious and always said that he did not fit in the family. He still has the same close group of friends that he had in high school. He wasn’t the stubborn one I was so he always seemed to get along with everyone in the family but me. My little sister who is the youngest is manipulative, even a little flaky. She is too slick and sneaky and a bit unbelievable, even though she was likeable, fun to be around, easy to talk to.

She is definitely gullible, and has been easily taken advantage of a lot. She has made some decisions based too much on her feelings and did no give enough thought to her decisions. One thing that was and is still very true is that she is the favorite. So while looking into the birth order theory I realized that some of the traits are true about be and my siblings and I find it to be funny it makes you want to stop and take a good look at the type of person that you are. Ezinearticles.com states that “Most of us have a dominant birth order personality that matches our birth position.

But that personality is influenced by variables such as temperament, gender and other family circumstances. So it is not so much where you are born in your family but how you function that counts. How a person functions generally correlates with birth position”. When you have a good understanding of who you are, what makes you strong what your weaknesses are, what you like what you dislike then and only then will you be in a position to maximize your strengths. This will allow you to be able to make up for any weaknesses that you may have by changing the things that you can and be able to accept what you can’t change.

Works Cited

• http://www.ciadvertising.org/SA/spring_03/382J/kjoco/conclusions.htm

• http://ezinearticles.com/?Birth-Order—Understand-How-It-Affects-Your- Personality&id=45481

• Leman, Kevin. The New Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are. Minnesota: Baker Book House Company, 2000.